Australia’s mothers and babies consolidates information on pregnancy, birth experiences, and outcomes of mothers and babies in Australia over time. The report covers the antenatal period, labour and birth, outcomes for babies at birth, perinatal deaths (stillbirths and neonatal deaths) and maternal deaths.
The data are largely drawn from the National Perinatal Data Collection (NPDC), the National Maternal Mortality Data Collection (NMMDC), the National Perinatal Mortality Data Collection (NPMDC) and the Maternity Models of Care Data Set (MoC DS).
Australia’s mothers and babies is updated several times a year. The most recent update, in February 2026, included the first release of the Stillbirths and neonatal deaths dashboard with the latest available data (2023). See Data updates for more information on previous updates.
- Cat. no: PER 101
Key findings
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Birth rate in 2023 was 52 per 1,000 women, the lowest in the reporting period from 1998 to 2023
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Average maternal age continues to steadily increase (from 28.9 years in 1998 to 31.3 in 2023)
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The rate of women giving birth by caesarean continued to rise, from 29% in 2004 to 41% in 2023
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Proportion of First Nations babies has risen from 5.2% in 2013 to 7.3% in 2023